June 16, 2008
2. Something for Your Heart
3. Surf Report
4. Birthdays
5. Forgettable Fact
6. Potent Quotables
7. Uh, That's Funny?
1. 180 NEWS
Wild Waves
Hey Middle Schoolers are you ready for a crazy fun time?! On Thursday July 17 we are heading north for Wild Waves! Wild Waves is an amusement park with a ton of great water sides and rides, huge roller coasters and more!The cost is $40 and includes lunch in the park. Please be sure to register to go by Sunday, June 29! Pick up a flier this week in the Youth Center, or download one here.
Here's how some of the fun looked last year...
Go here to see even more!
Senior Farewell Party
We had a great time celebrating our graduating seniors last Wednesday night! If you were unable to be with us here is the slide show looking back over the years. Oh the memories!
See more here!
FREE Barbecue
Join Pastor's Brian and Aaron on Monday, June 23 from 11:00 to 1:00 for a fun time distributing invitation fliers to our apartment neighbors and a hamburger BBQ! We will walk across the street to distribute fliers inviting our neighbors to VBS, Country Sunday, and our Back to School BBQ in August.
Afterward we we will be firing up the grill for some burgers! Come hang out and enjoy the sunshine with us! Oh.....it's FREE!
Text Message Alerts
Do you have a cell phone? Do you use text messaging? So do we!
If you would like to subscribe to our new Text Message Alerts and receive up to the minute announcements, reminders, cancellation notices, and more, then click on the appropriate link below to be added to our list.
Text messages will be one way messages and will sent from One80@txtsig.us. If you have already signed up at the info table in the youth center please do not use these links.
Sign up now to always be in the know!
Sign up for our High School TXT message alerts!
Sign up for our Middle School TXT message alerts!
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
SPIRITUAL IMITATION
Just as we imitate in life, we imitate in our Christian lives. Spiritual imitation is the first part of understanding how Jesus wants us to live. Imitation has been used in the church since its inception, and Christians actually learn how to live life as they pass on their faith through imitation.
When Jesus called his disciples, he said, "Come and follow me"--in other words, "Come and watch what I do and then go out and do the same." Come imitate me. Come do the exact things I do, and I'll show you the meaning of my life.
It's so cool that the God of the universe had a mission to take 12 men and duplicate divine power and love right here on the earth. God was so intentional about transferring it to them that God actually came and lived with them. Isn't that amazing? God came to live with humans and imitate human life, the very life God created, so we could know the right way to live.
Jesus wants you to imitate the things he did while he was here on the planet so the world can know God's love. He isn't interested in waving a magic wand and instantly turning you into a finished work of art. No, he wants you to simply "come and follow"--and he will help you figure out this "Christian life." This imitation is a journey with God, not an immediate arrival to a known destination.
BELIEVING
Once you begin to master the craft of imitating nuances, the next step in method acting is to actually start to believe who you are.
I once had a director for a play called The Voice of the Prairie. It was a wholesome, down-home show about the invention of the radio in the early 1900s. The play chronicles the use of radio and the link between the radio and the ease of communication today and then ultimately showed how the television would change communication in another generation.
I was cast as the protagonist, and through the course of imitating a young Midwestern man, I actually began to believe I was that man when I was onstage. No longer content with just "play acting," I was intentionally beginning to believe I was that person for that time so the audience would believe in my performance. I figured if they believed my character, then the story could be told. If I tried to "act" like someone else, I was confident the audience would have smelled the fakery a mile away. It was my first big shot in front of a mainstage crowd.
I believed so the story would hold weight.
I believed so the audience would believe.
Believing is different from imitating. Once you believe, your whole mindset changes. The "you" fades behind the ambiance you create, because to believe is to convince. If an actor is successful at convincing herself that she is who she's playing, then her choices to talk a certain way, move a certain way, or even create certain facial expressions become second nature. The simplest details invade the core of who you are and transform you into the person you will be.
It's a law of human behavior. Once people begin to buy into an idea of who they are, their actions begin to reflect those beliefs. Belief is the beginning of action, and your actions begin to develop the character you present to the world. It's an important piece of your personality, and it calls you to take seriously the question, "What do you believe?"
Jesus says, "Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (John 12:44-46, ESV).
If you're going to buy into Christianity, it's essential that you understand the importance of belief. This belief isn't played out on stage--it's real life. Serious stuff. Jesus' light here on earth chases away darkness--because of belief.
Belief heals blindness.
Belief casts out demons.
Belief is the cornerstone of everything we are.
Without belief, it's impossible to live a life worthy of Christ's calling.
**
Taken from "Duplicate This!," by Andy Braner, copyright 2008 Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission. Order the book here.
3. SURF REPORT
~ Playnormous: Play fun games, watch some cool animation, and learn how to stay healthy
~ Andy Braner's Blog: Check out the blog from this week's featured author
4. BIRTHDAYS
We've got THREE people to celebrate this week! HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes go out to Tori Freitag, Mitch Thornburg, and Adam Permetti! We wish you all the very best!!
5. FORGETTABLE FACT
One quarter of the human brain is used to control the eyes.
6. POTENT QUOTABLES
"As a teenager you are at the last stage in your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you."
~ Fran Lebowitz
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
~ T. S. Elliot
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Learn more about "Duplicate This!" here.
Also available in your local Christian bookstore.
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7. UH, THAT'S FUNNY?
If you leave alphabet soup on the stove and go out, it could spell disaster.
